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December 2, 2008 9:10:05 PM CST

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9 Stories

ANALYSIS

 As Food Prices Rise,
 Lobster Treads Water

In Maine at least, local economies dodge the perils of globalization

Slate Slate Aug 20, 08 12:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - As global demand drives food prices to new highs, there’s one high-end food item whose price is in decline, Daniel Gross points out in Slate: lobster. In Portland, Maine, a pound of lobster costs slightly more than a gallon of gasoline, a ratio that historically was more like 4-to-1. And the prices get even lower farther upstate. More »

More about:  food prices • food industry • speculation • supply and demand • lobster • global food crisis

Opinion

Speculators Didn't Do It

Traders take blame
for high oil prices,
but global demand
is the real culprit

The Weekly Standard Jul 5, 08 7:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - Politicians are blaming high oil prices on an old scapegoat: speculators, writes Dean Barnett in the Weekly Standard . But if speculators were hoarding oil, it would be stockpiled, and inventories would soar. Instead, inventories remain constant. This is obvious "to anyone who took an introductory economics class," Barnett writes. "Demand is relatively high. That means higher prices." More »

More about:  oil price • commodities • New York Mercantile Exchange • speculation • speculators

As Prices Soar, Congress Aims at Speculators

Out-of-control traders may be driving up oil, food costs, pols say

New York Times New York Times Jun 13, 08 8:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Congress is blaming rampant commodity speculation for rocketing gas and food prices, and berating regulators for letting it happen, the New York Times reports. Unless watchdog groups like the Commodities Futures Trading Commision crack down, Carl Levin says, "we don’t have a cop on the beat.." Joe Lieberman has even introduced a bill to ban institutional investors from commodity markets. More »

OPINION

 Is There a Solar Bubble?

Parallels with now-depressed ethanol stocks sure to scare investors

Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal May 22, 08 4:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks in solar-energy outfits are enjoying a sustained rally, but investors should remember the lesson of ethanol, Mark Gongloff writes in the Wall Street Journal . Once-loved ethanol stocks are now widely scorned—mainly because the energy source will never be viable without government subsidies. Still, despite solar’s advantages, shares are far from a sure bet. More »

More about:  ethanol • alternative energy • solar energy • solar power • stock price • speculation • solar cells

Congress Turns on Speculators in Oil Bubble

Legislators push regulation in effort to slow gushing prices

BusinessWeek BusinessWeek May 15, 08 7:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - It’s not OPEC pulling oil prices to ever greater-heights—it’s speculators. That’s the theory behind the Consumer-First Energy Act, a bill sponsored by Senate Democrats aimed at clamping down on runaway oil futures trading. As stocks fall, investors are fleeing to commodities, especially oil. But even the US government might not have the power to rein in the market, BusinessWeek reports. More »

More about:  oil price • oil • commodities • futures market • speculation • commodities exchange

 OPEC May Boost
 Oil Output to
 Ease Prices 

Cartel may meet early and backpedal on current policy

New York Times New York Times May 9, 08 7:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - As crude hit $125 a barrel today, one OPEC member said the cartel may boost oil production to relieve prices, the New York Times reports. The move would conflict with OPEC's public stand that speculators, not oil supplies, have been keeping prices high. “We would consider among other options the possibility of increasing output as a way to ensure market stability,” Libya's top oil official said. More »

More about:  gas prices • oil price • Saudi Arabia • OPEC • Libya • investment • oil production • speculation • supply and demand

Speculation Not Driving Boom in Commodities

Surveyed economists name supply, demand as bigger factors

Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal May 8, 08 4:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - A majority of economists think the upswing in food and energy prices is due to fundamental issues of supply and demand—and not driven by speculation, a Wall Street Journal survey finds; 51% pegged demand from China and India as the chief cause of the oil boom. More »

More about:  China • India • oil price • food prices • investors • oil production • speculation • economist

 Rice Is the New Oil 

Rising food prices threaten a more serious global crisis

Newsweek Newsweek Apr 27, 08 3:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Even as the burgeoning price of oil slaps consumers at the pump, a darker global market crisis looms as rising commodities prices compound the pressures of poverty worldwide. The UN has said that spiking food prices have started "a silent tsunami threatening to plunge more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger." Newsweek investigates the causes, which are both complicated and simple. More »

More about:  China • United Nations • India • food • food prices • poverty • hunger • speculation • rice prices • hunger riots

Oil Insanity Pinned to Speculators

Observers call current market 'hysteria' — and 'bubble'

Der Spiegel Der Spiegel Feb 28, 08 5:54 PM CST
(Newser) - Crude-oil prices have doubled in recent months, a development not linked to fundamental supply and demand—but rather, observers tell Der Spiegel , to rampant speculation among investors looking for a stable buck. The prospect of recession would typically drive prices down, but analysts say a decade-old oil investment rush by pension funds and big banks has made the market volatile and distorted. More »

More about:  recession • oil • crude oil • Morgan Stanley • OPEC • ExxonMobil • Persian Gulf • Deutsche Bank • New York Mercantile Exchange • speculation • pension funds

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